10 Fantastic Valentine’s Day Ideas for Seniors: Activities and Gifts

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples; everyone can celebrate! It’s the perfect occasion to show love and affection to family and friends and to spend quality time with aging family members. We’ve rounded up plenty of fantastic Valentine’s Day ideas they'll love—six categories of activity suggestions and four thoughtful gift ideas.

6 Cheerful Valentine’s Day Activities for Seniors

1. Create a festive environment

Putting up decorations makes any holiday festive and more memorable.

Valentine’s Day is a great reason to make simple DIY decorations together, save money, and have fun—all at once!

Simple Valentine's Day decoration ideas:

• Hearts everywhere – cut hearts out of colored paper and stick them around the house.
• For a faux-stained glass window, cut hearts out of colored tissue paper and stick them on a light-filled window. Overlapping them makes beautiful patterns, too—like in this tutorial. Or, try this fun “stained glass” tutorial.
• Fun chain garland – cut pink and red colored paper into equal-sized strips. Make interlocking rings by pasting or stapling the ends together (like this), then hang them around the house.
• Festive heart garland – this tutorial shows how to make a fun garland of colorful hearts.

2. Celebrate with family and friends

Any holiday is a good reason to get together with family and friends. 

Organize a casual potluck or even just an afternoon of coffee and tea. You could even ask people to bring little Valentine’s cards for a festive exchange. 

They don’t have to be expensive or store-bought. We found some lovely free printable Valentine's Day cards here:

• Huge range of 80 card designs, from cute to funny to classic
• 100 cute, fun, and sweet Valentine cards
• Cute cards: 1 full-size and 4 on one page

3. Enjoy Valentine's Day activities for seniors

Coloring is a great way to relax, be creative, and enjoy time together. Here are some of our favorite free Valentine-themed coloring pages:

• Bee Mine
• Assorted Valentine-theme pictures

Puzzles are another activity to enjoy together. Try some of these:

• Valentine-themed word search puzzles – 1 easy and 1 challenging
• Valentine’s Sudoku puzzles – 1 easy and 1 challenging (get answers here)
• DIY Valentine heart puzzle – cut a large heart out of red or pink paper, “laminate” it using clear contact paper, and cut into puzzle shapes. To make it more colorful and festive, you could also glue smaller hearts, valentine-themed images, or photos onto the heart before sealing it in contact paper.

Bingo is another fun game you can play with as few or as many people as you like. The Spruce Crafts rounded up a variety of free Valentine-themed bingo printables that you can use at home.

4. Make homemade treats to share

Valentine’s Day and treats go hand in hand. Celebrate by making Valentine’s cookies, easy desserts, or savory snacks together. You can even make extras to give to family and friends!

Sweet treat ideas:

• Valentine’s Day fruit skewers
• Pope’s Valentine cookies
• Sweetheart cookie bouquet

Savory treat ideas:

• Sunny Side Up Egg-Heart Toasts
• Heart-shaped toast snack
• Heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches with a bowl of their favorite soup (use a heart cookie cutter after grilling the sandwich)

Festive non-alcoholic beverages:

• Cranberry sipper
• Strawberry sippin’ soda
• Valentine's Day pink lemonade punch

5. Share love with the community

If your older adult likes to knit, crochet, or sew, consider making red or pink hats, scarves, or blankets to donate to local shelters or hospitals.

6. Watch a classic romantic movie or romantic comedy

You might want to relax with a funny or romantic movie. Whether the group is just the two of you or a family viewing party, just grab some snacks and settle into a comfy couch.

Some ideas:

• An Affair to Remember
• His Girl Friday
• Casablanca
• Singin’ in the Rain
• When Harry Met Sally
• Love Actually
• 50 First Dates / Hitch (Double Feature)

Video: 10 Great Valentine's Day Gifts for Seniors

4 Thoughtful Valentine’s Gift Ideas

1. A lovely floral arrangement

Flowers brighten up a room and are a lovely way to bring a little bit of nature indoors.

A fresh-cut bouquet like these or beautiful faux flowers like these make great gifts.

2. Sweet treats

Candy is another classic Valentine’s gift. How about a small box of chocolate like these as a special treat?

3. A houseplant

Another way to add soothing greenery to the room is to gift your older adult a houseplant – either a live, easy-care plant like this or a small, no-fuss faux plant like this one.

4. Stuffed animal

A cuddly stuffed animal can make a fantastic gift, especially for someone with dementia who would appreciate a comforting buddy.

We love this sweet labrador puppy and this soft, huggable kitty that’s also available in an even more squeezable large size.

Recommended for you:

• 9 Enjoyable Activities for Seniors with Limited Mobility
• Activities for Dementia: 10 Fun, No-Fail Ideas
• 50+ Best Gifts for Seniors: Things You’ve Never Thought Of

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About the Author

Connie Chow

Connie was a hands-on caregiver for her grandmother for 20 years. (Grandma made it to 101 years old!) She knows how challenging, overwhelming, and all-consuming caring for an older adult can be. She also knows how important support is — especially in the form of practical solutions, valuable resources, and self-care tips.